gilest.org

Corporate training needs content design
Not cartoons

(23 January 2024)

I’ve worked for a few clients now where I was required to do certain corporate training modules before I could actually start doing any work.

The modules are usually about things like data protection, anti-bribery and corruption, and more recently, safe remote working. OK. Fair enough. Crack on and get them done.

I don’t have a problem with being reminded of the rules - but I do have a problem with almost all of these training modules, and it’s this: they tend to treat grown adults like children, which only helps to make them feel like more of a chore.

An example. A while ago, had to do a data protection training course. I clicked the link I had been sent.

It sent me on a ridiculously convoluted and click-heavy “adventure game” in a browser-based cartoon world that most 10-year-olds these days would call “cringe”. I was asked to:

• use a cartoon ‘translating machine’ to translate corporate jargon into plain English, and
• click on dozens of cartoon people to ‘interact’ with them and ‘find out top tips’, which I was later tested on

If you’re struggling to visualise the sort of training I’m talking about, here’s a fictional example. This isn’t real, but shows you what I mean:

A fictional example of bad corporate training

(I, a new employee or contractor, am sent an email with instructions for logging into a “training portal”. I follow the instructions, and see a list of training modules I must complete. I click the first one.)

(A cartoon person appears on screen, talking to me via text bubbles.)

TEXT BUBBLE: Hi! Welcome to MegaCorp! I’m Claire, your new colleague! It’s great to be working with you!

(Two buttons appear, one saying “Hi Claire, it’s great to meet you!” and another saying “Hello Claire, I’m so excited to be working at MegaCorp!” Whichever one I click, the result is the same. I have to click one of them to continue the training.)

TEXT BUBBLE: Yeah me too! OK, so because you’re new here, there’s a few things you need to know! The most important one is: where’s the coffee machine!? I know right? Ha ha!

TEXT BUBBLE: But seriously, you also need to know about data protection. It’s really important that we all pull together as a team to understand how data protection works, and what we can do to keep our customers’ personal data secure.

TEXT BUBBLE: Before we go any further, let’s just check what you know already. Don’t worry, this won’t be too hard!

(An animated graphic of an office appears on screen, with cartoon figures in a cartoon space.)

(One of the figures gets up from a desk and walks away towards a kitchen area, where they start chatting with a colleague.)

(A text bubble pops up.)

TEXT BUBBLE: What has Angela done that might put customer data at risk??

(Another text bubble pops up on top of the first one.)

TEXT BUBBLE: Click on the risk you can spot!

Me: WTF?

Me: Hovers mouse over the image of Angela’s computer, which promptly starts to glow and pulsate.

Me: Hovers mouse over other objects, which do nothing at all.

Me: Oh they mean the unlocked computer. Clicks on the computer.

(A third text bubble appears.)

TEXT BUBBLE: That’s right! Angela left her computer unlocked, which means anyone passing by might be able to see customer data!

(Another bubble.)

TEXT BUBBLE: Congratulations! (Animated confetti appears.) You found the risk!!

(A “Next page” button appears.)

(Another text bubble.)

TEXT BUBBLE: Click the next page button for your next challenge!

Me, weeping on my keyboard: Clicks the next page button

~

The user needs for training like this, as I understand them, are essentially:

• As a newcomer to an organisation, I need to understand that various rules apply to how I do my work, so that I can make sure I don’t inadvertently break them
• As an HR director, I need to know that each newcomer has seen these rules, and been tested on their understanding of them, so that I can report back to my boss (and perhaps an industry regulator) that everyone has been tested
• As a legal director, I need to be able to defend my organisation in court if we ever get taken there by someone else, so that I can truthfully testify that everyone’s been trained

So yeah, fine, I get that the needs should be met.

(And sure, my assumptions might be wrong about that list of needs - in which case, I’d love the chance to work with some training providers to find out exactly what the real needs are.)

But it’s the way that so much of this training is designed that really frustrates me. We are adults and professionals. We shouldn’t be subjected to this infantilising nonsense.

I think that most of the training I’ve endured could be re-formatted as a short page of text, made of short sentences and bullet lists. Perhaps with the occasional illustration.

Meeting training needs without cartoons

If you haven’t experienced training like this, lucky you. You might be thinking that I’m exaggerating with my fictional example above.

I’m not. If anything, I’m toning it down a bit. The real life training I have had to sit through has been just like this, if not worse.

Every time I see something like it, all I can think is: This is a terrible user experience. It could be replaced by text - or just a bullet point - that says:

Always lock your computer when you step away from it, even if you’re only stepping away for a brief moment.

That’s all that’s needed here.

We don’t need the cutesy animations, the childish “Welcome to Year 4!” tone of voice, the awful “gamification”, the endless text bubbles and clicks.

Please, designers and creators of online corporate training, I’m begging you: apply a good dose of content design to the training you deliver. Turn these training modules into short, readable texts. Ditch the silly games. Stop treating adults like children.

I think doing so will make training feel like less of a burden. It might even save your company some time and money.

giles (at) gilest.org

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